Patricia Milton Strips the Veneer from Precious Antiques by Teri Piccolo & Tracy Allen First produced in Berkeley in 2018, “Bamboozled,” a fantastic comedy-mystery by local playwright Patricia Milton, comes to life with wit and humor under the direction of Terrence Tyrie Ivory. Four skillful actors portray sassy, driven women in a tale of…
August Wilson Exposes Con Game that Keeps U.S. Unequal by Kristian Stovall & Barry David Horwitz August Wilson’s “Two Trains Running,” set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1969, lands with a quiet intensity. Wilson’s Civil Rights Era drama recalls the original Black communities who owned land, loved freely, and grew their own food. The…
Ayodele Nzinga Transforms Realism to Fantasy, Opening Our Eyes by Kheven Lee LaGrone According to Marvin X, a leading playwright of the movement, “Black theater was the mother of the Black Power Movement.” He explained that, “In America during the 60s, youth received revolutionary consciousness in the Black Arts Movement (BAM), especially the Black…
James Ijames Delights with Riotous Black Family Comedy by Jenyth Jo After twenty minutes of “Fat Ham,” a comical version of “Hamlet” set at a North Carolina backyard BBQ, it’s clear Juicy / Hamlet (Devin A. Cunningham) has been skewered and charred by the toxic flames of his out-of-date masculine role models. When Phaedra…